How did you find the Diamond Approach?
My spiritual journey really began after my father died suddenly when I was 17 years old. The turn inward started then, and I began asking the deeper questions—what is the meaning of this life, of death, our true purpose here? This led me on a worldwide tour of spiritual teachings throughout Asia in my twenties. After exploring Vipassana and Advaita practices, and soon after completing my MA in Transpersonal Psychology, I found the Diamond Approach through my dearest friend, Deborah Desmarais, whom I met in graduate school and is also a Diamond Approach teacher. She began working with Alia Johnson who had started a group of her own in the early 1990s, and within a year she let me know this was a teaching I absolutely needed to be a part of. The group, called the 'Idiots Anonymous,' was rich and lively and continued for a number of years before we joined the school proper. This work felt like a coming home—I had finally found a teaching that synthesized both the psychological and spiritual dimensions of life that I was so drawn to and, unlike other practices, had built within it in-depth supports to do the deeper, ongoing work.
When you first started, what was your greatest challenge?
One of my greatest challenges when I began the group was to deeply value my inner experience. Much of my conditioning and family upbringing was focused on the externals and a lot of “doing.” So valuing what I was feeling and being curious about what I was experiencing was not only an ongoing practice for me, but also one of the greatest gifts I have received from this teaching.
What has kept you engaged with the Diamond Approach teachings?
Presence, the teachings, the practice of inquiry and sensing—sensing, sensing—has deepened my ability to stay with, and be in direct contact with, where I am and whatever I experience. I truly value this. The depth, intimacy, and realizations that have opened up, and the many dimensions of reality that have revealed themselves to me have been priceless, such a blessing!
What aspect of the teaching is most alive in you right now?
What is most alive in me right now is the wonder and joy of living a simple, awake, loving life with as much grace as possible.
What has been the most surprising discovery for you?
The dynamic beauty and breathtaking aliveness of right now!
What advice/encouragement would you offer someone “on the fence” about attending an intro event?
My encouragement to anyone who has some interest in this work is to let your curiosity and heart lead you. If there is some kind of draw, follow it and then find out directly for yourself. Trust those nigglings—they seem to lead us on amazing adventures.
If you could have one wish for humankind, what would it be?
If it's only one wish: may we actually live our humanity—live the shared heart of kindness and compassion. At this time our wild world is aching for true care and connection with each other and this incredible planet that we share with all beings. This is an ongoing heartfelt prayer.
Nancee Sobonya is a teacher of the Diamond Approach, assisting and teaching groups in the Bay Area, Los Angeles and Europe. She is a faculty member of the European Ridhwan International Seminary, serves on the California End of Life Service Group for the Ridhwan School and has a private practice in Berkeley. In addition to her 25 years as a student in the Ridhwan School, she has studied psychology, and Western and Eastern spiritual traditions at UCSB, JFKU and in Asia, where she began practicing Vipassana meditation and was deeply impacted by Advaita/Nondual teachings. She has a degree in Transpersonal Psychology and was an adjunct faculty at JFKU and Starr King School of Ministry. Nancee also has seventeen years of hospice experience as a Grief Educator. In 2005, she produced and directed her first educational documentary, The Gifts of Grief. She continues to offer workshops and screenings of this film worldwide. For balance she enjoys spending time in nature and engages in an ongoing dance/movement practice in the East Bay. Her website is www.shininglightproductions.net.